I'm the founding partner of marketing strategy and product innovation consulting firm Reason inc. Marketing success means delivering relevant, tangible benefits that motivate audience behavior – and it’s at least as much about product development as about marketing communications.
Forbes and I go a long way back: my first job out of grad school in 1993 was as a Forbes reporter, and I have been a contributor since 2006.
I was born and raised in Germany but have lived in the US since I'm 16. I'm a graduate of Brown and Columbia and live in downtown Manhattan. I'm a history buff and a passionate photographer and love to travel. I'm on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbabej

Is Your Marketing Ready for a Double Dip?

Back in March, I cautioned marketers to prepare for the possibility of a double-dip recession. Since then, key indicators like employment, manufacturing data and consumer sentiment have continued on a downward trajectory. And, budget deal or not, the markets are dropping for the 8th straight day on the economic news.

I’ll leave it to the economists to predict whether this is just a “soft patch” or a double-dip. But it doesn’t take an economist to realize that it’s high time to factor the possibility of a recession into marketing planning. Here are some points to consider:

As a rule of thumb, products that speak to basic needs are more recession proof. Be prepared to support those parts of your product portfolio that are non-discretionary, or at least more basic.

Apply concentration of force to your marketing budget allocations. Don’t try to achieve too much at the same time, or to make proportional adjustments. Rather, double down on those products, messages and media that are most likely to succeed in a recession.

Anticipate consumer behavior in your category. General behavior patterns are one thing, but the dynamics of a specific category can be quite another. Smartphones are hardly “nondiscretionary”. Still, the category kept growing as if there had been no Great Recession. This trend-bucking can also apply to a company with particularly hot products. Thanks to the iPhone, iPad and Macs, Apple could do no wrong while competitors faltered.

Translate your insights about the impact of a recession into breakthrough marketing strategies and executions. During the last recession, Hyundai wooed consumers with a breakthrough offer: buyers couldn’t make their car payments due to a lost their jobs could return it free of charge.

Incidentally, Hyundai ended the program only this March. Let’s hope economic conditions won’t call for a relaunch in the near future. But come what may, there’s no substitute for preparation.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Well, since I’m a-woman-guy, so, let me stick with the just-ONE-thing rule, I market ONE thing or ONE Benefit Only, in our case, it’s the superior organization capability of a piece of software (Knowledge NoteBook), and yes it’s been backed up by all the student customers.